ADVANCED READING AND WRITING

(Brief-answer Questions)

Reading – I

15. Read the following composition attentively and answer any five of the questions:

Is it possible to persuade mankind to live without war? War is an ancient institution which has existed for at least six thousand years. It was always wicked and usually foolish, but in the past the human race managed to live with it. Modern ingenuity has changed this. Either man will abolish war, or war will abolish man. For the present, it is nuclear weapons that cause the greatest danger, but bacteriological or chemical weapons may, before long, offer an even greater threat. It we succeed in abolishing nuclear weapons, our work will not be done. It will never be done until we have succeeded in abolishing war. To do this, we need to persuade mankind to look upon international questions in a new way, not as contests of force in which the victory goes to the side which is most skillful in massacre, but by arbitration in accordance with agreed principles of law. It is not easy to change age-old mental habits, but this is what must be attempted. [NU 2015]

      a) Choose the best answer. Bacteriological or chemical weapons-

      i) are as dangerous as nuclear weapons.

      ii)  may offer a greater threat than unclear.

      iii) are less dangerous than nuclear weapons.

      Ans:  ii)  may offer a greater threat than unclear.

      b) To abolish war, we need not persuade mankind to look upon international questions in a new way.

      (Is this statement true of false, if false, rewrite it)

      Ans: False; to abolish war, we need to persuade mankind to look upon international questions in a new way.

      c)   We should settle........... issues through negotiations.

      (Fill in the blank with appropriate word from the passage)

      Ans: We should settle  international issues through negotiations.

      d) Persuade (adjective)

      (Change the word as directed and make a sentence with the changed one)

      Ans: persuasive: Her entire speech was persuasive for the learners.  

      e) What does the word "Ingenuity" mean in the passage?

Ans:  The word "Ingenuity" mentioned in the passage means creativity.